Behind The Push To Make Halifax’s Backyard Queer Bar Permanent
HALIFAX–Three best friends are inching closer to opening a much-needed LGBTQ+ event space in Halifax. A kickstarter campaign to give The Queer Garden a permanent, year-round home has reached $5,315 of its $55,600 goal.
The campaign may have a way to go to raise the money needed, but Queer Garden has already come a long way since its humble beginnings last June.
It was during the early summer that Mike Scaife was fixing up his backyard and realized he had carved out a little piece of paradise. He decided he wanted to share the experience with his friends.
One of the friends he contacted was Erin Delorey, who would go on to become one of the founders of Queer Garden, along with Justin Chevrette.
“It’s my favourite place to be,” Delorey recalls hearing from Scaife. “What do you think about doing something with it for the summer?”
“In a couple of weeks, we had transformed the space into a beautiful outdoor meeting space for people,” Delorey says.
At first, Queer Garden hosted family and friends. But as word spread about the new safe, queer space the backyard took on a speakeasy vibe and people who reserved to become patrons online got the address sent to them.
The Queer Garden hosted trivia nights, viewing parties for Ru Paul’s Drag Race, and dance parties where you had to wear earphones to hear the music.
Delorey said they always tried to be respectful of their neighbours, and the neighbourhood welcomed them kindly in return.
“They were so supportive. We did our best to reach out to everybody just to tell them what we were doing,” said Delorey. “We tried our best to be as respectful as possible and our neighbours, in return, showed their support.”
The Queer Garden opened at a time when Halifax really needed an LGBTQ-friendly space. In April, Menz and Mollyz, the popular LGBTQ bar on Gottingen Street, closed and was sold. That closure left a huge void in the community.
“In the North end of Halifax there’s a strong presence from the gay and lesbian community and trans community, and there’s just nowhere to meet,” said Delorey. “After being in multiple lockdowns over the last 18 months, everyone just needed a space to go where they could safely meet.”
Delorey, Chevrette, and Scaife are hoping that the permanent version of Queer Garden will be a café by day and a bar and lounge by night. And, of course, even though it is called Queer Garden, everyone will be welcome as long as they are respectful and vaccinated.
Delorey says it’s important to have designated safe spots for the LGBTQ+ community to meet because there have been incidents in the past where people haven’t felt welcome in traditional bar settings.
“It just gives people in the LGBTQ community a chance to feel safe. There’s been a lot of acts of violence and backlash for people truly expressing how they feel,” she said.
Along with the $5,000 raised through kickstarter, the trio also received $10,000 through donations and fundraising done throughout the summer. Even if the online fundraiser doesn’t reach the $55,000 mark, they hope they will have enough seed money to get further financing.
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].